Local Drinks

1. Dew

   Dew (churned yoghurt drink, like ayran)

   Usage

   dû / dew / çiqelmast / dûmast is churned yoghurt (mastê kiyandî) and is called the national drink of the Kurds. Available in any eatery

2. Mastav

   Mastav (yoghurt drink flavoured with herbs)

   Usage

   The Sorani form is Mastaw. The drink is found in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) and eastern Kurdistan (western Iran), where pennyroyal (pûjan) is stirred in. It differs little from çeqilmast (= dew) until herbs or lemon are added. Mostly used in Sorani-speaking areas

3. Ava sûsê

   Ava sûsê (chilled liquorice-root drink)

   Usage

   It is called "the Kurds' cola" (kolaya kurdan), sold in many Kurdish towns. The liquorice root (sûs) is crushed with a mallet and steeped in water. It is drunk in the markets on hot summer days; the plant now grows best around Silêmanî (Sulaymaniyah)

4. Ava kişmîş

   Ava kişmîş (raisin drink)

   Usage

   Also spelled ava kişîşê, a traditional drink produced above all in Silêmanî (Sulaymaniyah) and Mûsil (Mosul) and drunk mainly during Ramadan. A drink of the Kurdistan Region on the Iraqi side

5. Çaya reş

   Çaya reş (black tea)

   Usage

   Black tea is what mostly comes to the Kurdish table, and çaya reş is the best-known kind of tea. Until the 19th century coffee was drunk more than tea in Kurdistan; now black tea leads

   Grammar Note

   çay ("tea") + the feminine ezafe -a + reş ("black") — literally "the black tea"

6. Qehweya kurdî

   Qehweya kurdî (Kurdish coffee brewed from terebinth berries)

   Usage

   Also called qehweya kezwanan (or şengêl / şînok), a hot drink made from the berries of the terebinth (kezwan, Pistacia terebinthus). It was not drunk during a dîwan but served as the gathering broke up, before Arab-style coffee became fashionable

7. Xoşav

   Xoşav (sweet boiled fruit compote drunk as a drink)

   Usage

   Also spelled xweşav: fruit, sugar and water boiled together. In Kurdistan it is mostly made from qeysî (apricots) and tirî (grapes), with fresh or dried fruit as you like

8. Lebzîne

   Lebzîne (sweet coconut and rosewater drink)

   Usage

   Also lêvzîne and lewzîne, this Kurdish drink-cum-sweet of gûza hindê (coconut) and gulav (rosewater) is popular in southern Kurdistan and around Amed, Dîlok, Wan and Mahabad. Children call it food when the coconut dominates and a drink when the rosewater does

9. Saremenî

   Saremenî (the general word for chilled soft drinks)

   Usage

   Cold drinks kept and sold chilled in electric coolers, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi — the general word to use when asking a shop for something cold

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